Aunt Julia

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Aunt Julia

• Annotation

2
alliteration
Hers was the only housewhere I've lain at
nightin a box bed, listening tocrickets being
friendly. She was bucketsand water flouncing
into them.She was winds pouring wetlyround
house-ends.She was brown eggs, black skirtsand
a keeper of threepennybitsin a teapot.
he felt safe in his aunts house
metaphors
alliteration
list builds up picture how?
3
Aunt Julia spoke Gaelicvery loud and very
fast.By the time I had learneda little, she
laysilenced in the absolute blackof a sandy
graveat Luskentyre.But I hear her still,
welcoming mewith a seagull's voiceacross a
hundred yardsof peatscrapes and lazybedsand
getting angry, getting angrywith so many
questionsunanswered. Norman MacCaig
repetition of the first two lines of the poem
effect?
alliteration
appeals to the senses sound, sight, smell
cultural references
he wanted to ask her so many questions he
learned a little Gaelic too late
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1. What is the effect of the structure and word
choice of lines 3 and 4 in stanza 1? 2. Why
is the single dash used in line 3, stanza 2? 3.
How does MacCaigs word choice build up his
admiration for Aunt Julia in stanza 2? 4.
How is this admiration / pleasant memory
continued with his word choice and line
structure in stanza 3? 5. Comment on the effect
of the figurative language in stanza 4. 6. Why
does MacCaig repeat the opening lines of the poem
at the start of the last stanza? 7. Comment
on MacCaigs use of enjambment in the final
stanza. 8. What technique is MacCaig using in
lines 3 and 4 of the final stanza and what
effect does this have? 9. Comment on the
effectiveness of the word choice in line 5 of the
final stanza. 10. What is the effect of the
imagery used in line 9 of the final stanza?
11. What is significant about the structure of
line 12 of the final stanza and what effect
does this have? 12. What do you think MacCaig
means by the last two lines of the poem?
Comment both on word choice and structure.
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You can often see what look like patterns on the
hillsides of Harris. These are the so-called Lazy
Beds (and yet life was hard!) where the crofters
used to grow potatoes and a few vegetables. They
managed to cut strips of land between the rocks
and fertilise what little soil there was with
enough seaweed to provide them with a bit of
something to put with the fish they caught. Today
you will still see them cutting peat for fuel.
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The famous Harris tweed is made all over both
Harris and Lewis. It can be bought in many of the
islands' shops and also direct from the weavers
(at Luskentyre for example). Genuine Harris tweed
bears the orb symbol, the mark of the Harris
Tweed Association. The wool is Scottish in
origin, but for it to be classed as Harris Tweed,
it must be spun, dyed, finished and woven in the
Hebrides.
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Simple Gaelic phrases Fàilte! -
Welcome! (pronounced faltchi) Ciamar a tha shiv
How are you? (pronounced cimar a ha
shiv) Compare the sounds to the
seagulls voice
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Catriona Montgomery was born in Roag in the Isle
of Skye in 1947. After leaving Skye she took a
degree in Celtic and Modern Studies at Glasgow
University and taught in a Glasgow school. She
began writing poetry in her early twenties, and
has also written plays and acted on television
and radio.
Embroidery In the quiet kitchen skilled
fingers pushing coloured thread through needles
eye. Kate, reviving summer, its fruits and
blooms within days the tablecloth will be
ready. Nebby Janet sits at the window sharp
eyes scrutinising the road for drunks, watching
the girls who go to the dance, counting the
lights that are lit till two. At eight next
morning Janet makes quickly for the houses her
embroidery finished her sharp needle in the dark
busily stitching lies.